Unit could operate for additional 30 years until 2060
South Korea’s state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) said on Monday (6 May) it had signed an agreement with Canada’s Candu Energy to speed up the preparations to compete for a refurbishment project for Unit 1 at the Cernavodă nuclear power station in Romania.
KHNP said it signed the infrastructure engineering services contract with Candu in line with their goal to participate in the retubing and refurbishment project at Cernavodă-1, a Canada-designed 650-MW Candu 6 unit that began commercial operation in 1996.
The project centres on replacing key components and building infrastructure for an additional 30 years of operation until 2060.
Under the partnership with Candu, KHNP will prepare an engineering plan for aspects of the planned refurbishment.
Last year KHNP said it had formed a consortium with Candu Energy and Italy’s Ansaldo Nucleare for the refurbishment of Cernavodă-1.
Romanian nuclear operator Nuclearelectrica has estimated the cost of refurbishment at $1.95bn (€1.81bn), excluding financing costs and inflation rates.
The project began in 2017 and is in the second of three phases. This phase, due to last until 2026, includes providing the financial resources and negotiating and granting engineering, procurement and construction contracts.
The third phase, scheduled for 2027 to 2029, starts with the shutdown of Cernavodă-1 and includes all the work required for refurbishment and the plant’s recommissioning.
KHNP said large-scale facility upgrades, including replacement of pressure pipes, turbines, and generator components, will begin in 2027.
In June 2023, KHNP signed a $255m deal with Nuclearelectrica to build a tritium removal facility at Cernavodă. The facility will be used to extract tritium from heavy water and store it in a safe form, significantly reducing the amount of radioactive waste from reactor operation.
